Self-edited ramblings about whatever I feel like talking about. Usually related to some sort of game-like activity.

July 22, 2014

Innocent Bystanders: Victorian Civilians

When I made my huge order from West Wind Productions for the first wave of Empire of the Dead gang boxes (seems like ages ago, because it was) I included a Victorian citizens pack. Ten models that I can use as fodder for various scenarios, or just to dress up the gaming table a little bit. The sculpts are characterful yet simple which makes them easy to paint.

One thing I will say is that these took much longer than I'd like to admit to finish. It's not like when you paint a full unit where you paint each part of each figure the same colour. With each figure being unique, I had to spend time choosing colours that suited.

I also decided to give the dipping technique another try, this time using Army Painter's "Strong Tone" quickshade. Every time I use varnish as a shading medium I freak out a tiny bit when it dries. The glossy finish plus the high pigmentation always makes me think "oh sh*t, I've ruined my base coat!" for just a few seconds.

After the varnish I also tried another first: spray-on matte varnish. This stuff ended up producing some frosting on the figures, which again caused me to scramble in my brain for a few minutes. Not knowing what else to try, I decided to brush on a coat of the Army Painter varnish, which seemed to repair a lot of the frosting.

Finally I went back over a lot of the whites, cream colours, flesh and light blues to make them look better. The heavy pigment in the varnish makes them look really dirty, but with a quick touchup of the original colour it all comes together.

I'm very happy with the result, even though it took quite a while to get them finished.